


Love's Not A Competition

by thatmitchsentho



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Don't worry, F/F, still gay as fuck, unrequited Jeca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 03:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8780590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmitchsentho/pseuds/thatmitchsentho
Summary: Beca Mitchell wasn't the kind of girl that people fell in love with. Except Jesse did. And so did Chloe. Only she doesn't know about either of them. Jesse asks for a fair shot, but Chloe thinks Beca isn't a prize to be won.





	

Chloe was standing at the end of the counter in Barden's best coffee place, adding sweetener to her coffee. She was waiting on Aubrey for an afternoon pick-me-up when she was interrupted by a voice mid-sip. "Chloe? Can I talk to you for a sec?" The redhead was surprised and turned around.

"Jesse?" she said, almost dribbling her coffee from her mouth. "Sorry, yeah. Take a seat." The freshman nervously slid into the seat she had gestured to.

"I kind of need to talk to you about something," he said. "And I don't really know how you're going to take this."

"What is it?" she said, confused.

"It's about Beca," he said. "About Beca and me, and maybe you."

"What about Beca?" she asked coolly.

"Just that I know you guys are super tight. And I get it. You guys have a lot in common. But uh – here's the thing. I really like her and I think you do too," he said, blushing pink.

"You've got a crush on Beca?"

"You don't?" The senior just raised her eyebrows.

"And what if I do?" she said.

"Then I'd like to respectfully ask you to back off and let me see if what we have is something she'd be interested in pursuing," he rambled.

"You want me to stop hanging out with Beca so you can make a move on her?"

"It sounds pretty stupid when you say it like that."

"It sounds stupid no matter how you say it," Chloe said. "Jesse, I get why you like her. She's talented and funny and she's gorgeous and smart and she's a complete sweetheart deep down. What's not to dig about Beca? But you're not the only person who thinks she's incredible. Beca and I have been very close for a while now, and you're right. She's – really important to me as well. So I don't know if I can do what you want, because seeing her, hanging out with her, it's basically the highlight of my day."

"So you won't back off?"

"You don't own her Jesse, you don't have the monopoly on her time," Chloe said. "Feel free to hang out with her as much as you like. I don't pressure her for her time. She chooses to hang out with me, and she chooses when she wants to be with anyone else."

"You make it really hard for me to do that when you're basically attached to her hip, Chloe," he said. This was not going the way he intended.

"And yet she doesn't seem to mind it one bit," Chloe said. "If she wants to hang out with you, she'll make time for it."

"I'll win her over if I get a fair shot," he said pleadingly.

"I'm not even trying to win anything," Chloe said. "Love's not a competition, Jesse, and Beca isn't a prize. Love is just something that… happens. All on it's own. You can't force it." She got up and tossed her cup in the trash. Jesse just watched her go.

Even though the redhead had all the right words, she was a little shaken by Jesse. She was normally self confident, but she couldn't help but wonder that, if it came down to a decision, would Beca pick Jesse over her? She didn't even like thinking about it. And she didn't like that Jesse had spoken about Beca like she was something to win, to possess, to own. As if Beca could ever be reined in.

"Hey!" a voice interrupted her.

"What?" she said. "Oh, Aubrey."

"What's up with you?" the blonde asked. "We were supposed to meet for coffee."

"Oh, sorry," she said. "I uh, …I don't know if I should talk about it. I'm still kind of mad. "

"What? Chlo, with me, you can talk about anything, you know that," Aubrey said.

"Jesse was there," Chloe said. She began to tell the story of what had happened, how he asked her to stop spending time with Beca so he could make a move.

"So, correct me if I'm wrong," Aubrey said. "You do have a gigantic crush on Beca."

"A huge one," Chloe admitted. It was a fact that the two of them were well aware of, but had never really spoken about. "But… I don't know. Jesse would be a smarter choice than me, I guess. It'd be easier being with a guy."

"Bullshit," Aubrey said.

"Sorry?"

"You don't believe that," Aubrey said. "You don't believe that even a little. You know you'd be perfect for her."

"I'd be good to her, Bree," Chloe said quietly. " We'd be so great together. We already are, to be honest. Jesse kept talking about winning her like she was some prize. But she's not. She's this complex, fascinating, interesting, magnetic, beautiful and talented person. And I love her, Bree. I could watch her all day and not say a word and it'd still be the best use of my time, you know?"

"Chloe, you're going to have to tell her how you feel," Aubrey said. "Everything you just said… she deserves to know."

"I don't know if I can," she said. "I feel like… I don't know. I don't do feelings like this, Bree. It's terrifying."

"Well at least think about telling her," Aubrey said. "I'd put money on her feeling the same. She looks at you like you're everything to her."

"Maybe soon," Chloe said. "I don't want to take a chance and screw everything up. I'm happy being her friend and if I lost that, then I'd have nothing." Aubrey gave her a hug. She didn't want to push Chloe, and she really did feel like Beca was equally as besotted as she was.

Chloe watched Beca during the week, every time falling just a little bit more in love with her. It was ridiculous, she knew, but nonetheless she was growing more and more attached to the smaller girl. She'd just spent an afternoon listening to Beca fill in a shift at the radio station, laying out on the quad and streaming the station with her headphones on. As she heard the DJ's awkward banter, she smiled and resolved that she would have to tell Beca, because pretty soon she wouldn't even know how to keep it a secret any more. At that moment, a shadow fell across her. She pulled the headphones off and was greeted by Jesse Swanson.

"Chloe?" Jesse said. "We need to talk."

"No we don't," she replied. "I think I was pretty clear last time." She attempted to put her headphones back on.

"Don't you think Beca deserves to be happy?" he asked. She stopped and set them back down.

"Of course I want her to be happy," Chloe said. "That's a stupid thing to say. And for the record she isn't unhappy now."

"But how do you know that I can't make her happy?" Jesse said. "What if I'm the thing that makes her happiest?" Chloe bit her lip. She did want Beca to be happy. And if that was with Jesse, sure it'd hurt for a while, but Beca being happy would eventually negate that. And Beca deserved the chance to figure that out. Jesse wasn't too bad a guy. He cared about Beca, definitely. She shook her head.

"That's crazy," Chloe said. "Why should I have to stop seeing her just in case you're the thing that makes her happy?"

"How will she know if she never gets the chance to see me?" Jesse pointed out. Chloe took a deep breath.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"One week," he said. "All I want is one week. Seven days where I can properly hang out with Beca. If she isn't as happy with me as I think she's going to be, she's all yours." Chloe tugged at the some leaves of grass. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like she was going to cry. Maybe it was the thought of Beca being happier with Jesse than her. Or maybe it was the thought of not seeing Beca whenever they had spare time. Texting her through lectures. Listening to mixes with the brunettes headphones secure over her ears.

"Come on, Chloe," Jesse pleaded. "For Beca's happiness." She swallowed hard.

"Fine," she said. "Seven days. Starting right this minute, Jesse. And if she's happy, then great. But if not, you need to leave her alone." He nodded, and Chloe immediately got up and hightailed it back to her apartment before she burst into tears. This week was going to be torture.

It was worse. Every time she knew she was going to have to see Beca it took her a solid ten minutes of preparing herself. She was polite during practices but basically ran from the room when they were done because even just talking to the DJ was going to break her resolve. She just hoped Beca would be happy and it would all be worth it.

Beca was feeling downright miserable. She hadn't paid attention in any of her classes for days now. Her shifts at the station pretty much consisted of her staring blankly at stacks of CDs and vinyl while Jesse happily rambled on and worked around her. And she couldn't even concentrate on music. Every time she opened her laptop to work on a mix she couldn't even focus.

She felt sick. Honestly ill. Her roommate, Kimmy Jin, had thought she was about to vomit and placed a trashcan at her feet. She appreciated the gesture but wasn't about to tell her that she was, in fact, cut up over a girl. A girl who wasn't even her girlfriend. All she knew was that she couldn't keep on doing this. She needed to find out why Chloe had disappeared on her. She sent a text to the redhead, hoping it would get her some clarity.

Sitting forlornly in her bedroom in the apartment she shared with Aubrey, Chloe opened the text and saw it was Beca.

[Have I done something to piss you off? I feel like you're avoiding me and... I miss you. Hope you're okay.]

Chloe bit her lip. This was way too hard.

[You haven't pissed me off.]

[Then why do I feel like you want nothing to do with me?]

[Maybe you should ask Jesse.] She hated not being able to just hang out with Beca. But Jesse had asked her for one week. It was taking every ounce of strength in her not to just run straight to Beca's dorm and apologise.

[Jesse? What the fuck?]

[Just ask him.]

Then she sent another text. [And Becs, I miss you, too.]

Beca looked at the texts. Jesse? Why the fuck would he know about Chloe avoiding her? She'd spent the past week feeling miserable. She'd tried to catch Chloe's eye after rehearsal but the redhead had blown straight past her. They had a weekly burger and bitch date, but Beca had waited an hour before leaving her half done burger on the table and stalking out close to tears. She needed to get to the bottom of this. Right now. And if Jesse was the one with the answers, she was going to go and get them.

"Jesse," Beca said, banging hard on his door. "I know you're in there, open the fuck up." A neighboring student shot her a glare that she ignored, and Jesse came to the door.

"What's up?" he said, pleased to see Beca had taken the initiative to come and see him. Maybe she was coming around after all.

"What's up? I've been going crazy thinking Chloe's avoiding me for some reason and when I ask her about it she tells me I should ask you. So. Why is Chloe avoiding me?" she blurted. He opened the door and Beca breezed in, sitting in his desk chair. "I'm waiting."

"I might have asked her to free up some of your time because..."

"Because..." she prompted impatiently.

"Because I'm really into you and I want to see if we could ever have a thing but she was always taking up so much of your time I didn't feel like it was fair."

"Chloe's been avoiding me because you have a crush and asked her to back off?"

"It's not really that simple," he said.

"Well explain it to me," Beca said. "I've been a literal mess all week thinking I've upset her and it turns out you just wanna make a move? That's crazy, god, why would she even listen to you?"

"Hey, I was just after a fair shot," Jesse said. "How can I compete with Chloe when the two of you are attached at the hip!"

"Why are you competing!?" Beca said. "Who said it was a competition? I don't even know what the fuck that means!"

"Seriously," Jesse said. "If you don't see it, you're crazy."

"See what, Jesse?" Beca honestly didn't know, and Jesse couldn't keep from spilling it all.

"She's in love with you too!" he exploded. "Chloe's in love with you, Beca." She was legitimately stunned.

"Let me get this straight. You're in love with me. And Chloe's in love with me? And you feel like you haven't been getting a fair shot so you what, warned her off?" She got up. "I don't believe this."

"It's just-"

"No, Jesse. Did you consider my feelings at all? I thought I was losing the best friend I've ever had. This week has sucked beyond belief and I find out it was because of you, because you love me and wanted a fair shot? Love's not a competition. You don't win at it. I gotta go… Think about stuff."

"Beca, wait." He stood in front of her.

"Jesse, just - let me go okay? I'm kinda on overload right now and I can't promise I'm not about to go postal and punch you in the face." He let the smaller girl go reluctantly. Beca went straight back to her dorm and sat on her bed. It didn't make sense. She wasn't the kind of girl people fell in love with. But apparently Jesse had. And so had Chloe? That just seemed... not possible. It was the kind of stuff dreams were made of. Sure, she was infatuated with the redhead. But she'd never for a second thought that someone as incredible and stunning as Chloe would ever be interested in her. And she'd settled for friends, because having that girl in her life made her infinitely better.

She had friends she cared about. She was putting effort into her schoolwork. She'd started speaking to her dad again. She didn't hate herself when she looked in the mirror. She actually liked herself, and before Chloe came along, she couldn't say that was the case. She bit her lip and pulled her phone out. She just had to know.

If there was some chance that Chloe was into her, then she had to know. Because she wanted that redhead, wanted every single aspect of her. If they were going to be nothing but friends, that was great. But if they could be more… She wanted that. She wanted Chloe in whatever way she could have her.

[I spoke to Jesse. Chlo... I gotta know. He said a lot of stuff that I really don't understand, but I just - are you in love with me?] She waited six agonizing minutes for a response.

Chloe had her phone in hand when Beca's text came through, and she wrote the singular word immediately. But her thumb hovered over 'Send' for a long time. This text was going to change everything. There'd be no taking this back. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and hit the button.

[Yes]

Three letters had never held so much meaning. Beca stared at the text. Chloe Beale was in love with her. What the hell was she gonna do? She knew what she wanted to do, but she had to talk to them both.

[I need to see you. 6pm, auditorium.]

Chloe was early. She was there before Beca, just sitting on the stage and humming, looking out to the empty seats. Beca sat down next to her and didn't speak for a moment, so she went first.

"I'm sorry I made you feel like I was avoiding you," Chloe said softly. "Jesse asked me if I would mind giving him a chance to see you without me being involved. At first I said no because... well, I like being with you. More than anything, really. But then I figured, how would I feel if someone else was taking up all your time? And what if Jesse was the one who could make you happy, like, really happy? I had to at least give him that chance. Because more than anything, Beca, I want you to be happy, even if it's Jesse who makes you feel that way and not me."

"Chlo, I spent this whole week wondering if I'd upset you," Beca said. "I hated feeling like we were drifting apart. You're like... the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I feel the same way," Chloe said. "I didn't mean to fall in love with you, I swear. But you kind of just... I don't know. You're really incredible. I don't even think you know how much you mean to me. Before I knew it, you were the highlight of my week. Us hanging out. Talking. Just sitting. Being close to you."

"Why couldn't you just tell me that?" Beca asked.

"Because I needed you to figure it out," Chloe said. "Especially with Jesse in the picture. He's a good guy, and you could be happy with him, if you wanted to. And I was afraid that you would be."

"Chlo, yeah, Jesse's a nice guy, but honestly? Having you in my life outweighs anything he feels for me, a million times," she said. "Besides, I'm gay, Chloe. I know we never talk about stuff like this, but there it is. I'm gay. Jesse might be in love with me, but I am definitely not in love with him."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Chloe smiled at her. "And I'm sorry again."

"Just... don't do that again. I thought I was losing you and it was honestly the worst thing I ever remember feeling," Beca said, a tremble in her voice. Chloe rubbed her back softly. She'd had no idea it would be that bad. Especially to say that it felt worse than going through her parents divorce.

"Beca, you'll never lose me, I promise." Just then the door opened and Jesse came in.

"What's she doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted you both here," Beca said. "Because I don't like how this has gone down."

"Gone down… how?" he asked, confused. Beca got off the stage and Jesse sank into a chair in the front row opposite Chloe.

"Okay, if I'm missing something, fill me in," Beca said. "Jesse, you asked Chloe to back off spending so much time with me because you wanted to see if we could be more than friends. Chloe said no, because she felt the same way. But then you asked her again, for one week to try and win me over. And this time she said yes because she wanted me to be happy and if that was with you and not her, I should at least get time to figure that out. So this whole week, Chloe, you've only been seeing me at Bellas and ignoring my texts so that Jesse feels like he's had equal opportunity to spend time with me. And neither of you thought about filling me in on the matter and I was left thinking that my best friend was done with me with no warning and having the worst week since I got to Barden and quite possibly my entire life."

"Uh, I guess," Jesse said. Chloe just nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

"Firstly, that was really shitty," she said. "The two of you should have just come to me and then all this drama could have been avoided. I wouldn't have had to find out that the two of you were in love with me in an angry conversation with Jesse. I wouldn't have stayed up late every night feeling sick because Chloe wouldn't give me the time of day."

"I know," Chloe said. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," Jesse said. "It's just really hard for me to watch you and Chloe together when I've had a crush on you for so long."

"Without sounding like a narcissist Jess, this is about me, not you. I'm the one who got dicked with. And I don't appreciate you going to my best friend and telling her to back off so you could try and what, win me over? Regardless of whether or not Chloe has feelings for me, she's still my best friend. How did you possibly think that was going to end well? You'd just slide right in, never mind the fact that I was missing the person who was most important to me in the world? What was your plan if it had worked? I'd just stop hanging out with her?"

"I – I don't know," he admitted.

"Even if you didn't tell me how she felt," Beca continued, "I would have turned you down. And I am turning you down now. Because I'm gay, Jesse. I know I never told you, but you also never asked. You just rambled on about how we were surely destined to be together, which I always discouraged. I am gay and what's more, I'm in love with her. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. I love her. I have been for a really long time, I just never expected that she'd love me back. This whole week when she was standing back for you, I thought I was losing the best thing that ever happened to me. I was so scared, and I hated it. I was so fucking sick that even Kimmy Jin was worried about me. And yes, Jesse, I do care about you and I like having you around. You're one of my best friends. But just the thought of not having Chloe in my life was enough to make me downright miserable."

"Chloe wins?" he said in a small voice, looking at the redhead.

"Will you stop saying stuff like that, please?" Chloe snapped. They both looked at her in surprise. "God, Jesse, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not competing against you and I'm not playing a game. Beca's not a prize. She's a person."

"She's right," Beca said. "You keep talking about fair shots and equal chances. But it was never a competition, at least not for me." Jesse looked at the two of them. Beca still seemed mad.

"Okay," he said. "I get it. I did it all wrong."

"You did, but I get why," Beca sighed. "I still want to be your friend, Jess."

"Do you really think I'm going to be able to just be friends with you and watch you with her?" he laughed, hurt in his voice. "It's been hard enough just seeing the way you two look at each other."

"I would hope so," Beca said pointedly. "After all, you just asked Chloe to do the same thing for an entire week, and she did it. For my happiness, even if was hurting her to do it."

Jesse had nothing to say, he just walked away, slamming the auditorium door. Beca walked over and stood in front of Chloe.

"I'm sorry," the redhead said, blue eyes still swimming with unshed tears. "I didn't want to hurt you and I hate that I made you worry. This week was the hardest week of my life, I missed you so much. And you have every right to be mad, it's just... I need you to hear it from me now, not from Jesse, not through text. I really love you, Beca. I love you so much." The tears spilled gently down her cheeks.

"I love you, too, Chloe," Beca smiled. Chloe slid off the stage and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. She felt Beca's arms around her and smiled into her hair.

"How mad are you?" Chloe asked.

"I was a little mad to start with," Beca said. "But you backed off because you thought my happiness was more important than yours. I can't stay mad at you when you think like that. I wish this week hadn't happened and you'd just been able to tell me – but I'm not mad at you, Chloe." She pulled back a little bit and wiped the salty track marks from her face.

Chloe's eyes were clouded with tears, but to Beca they were still gorgeous. She leaned up and softly pressed her lips to the redhead's. It was sweet and slow, and Beca could feel a flag of warmth unfurling in her abdomen. Chloe sighed happily into her mouth before speaking.

"So can we-"

"Yes," Beca said.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask," Chloe said.

"Doesn't matter," Beca said. "Whatever you want, yes."

"I was just going to suggest going back to my place," she replied. "Couch. Takeout. Maybe a little makeout." Beca pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Like I said, whatever you want. I just want to be with you."


End file.
